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Hand powered Corn Mills...Corona etc.

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posted 9 years ago

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Hey All,

I have a corona type hand corn mill that I use to grind Nixtamal for tortillas, as well as other things. I recently noticed a few thins about it. There is minor rust happening and it also seems like some production of metal dust/flakes from metal on metal rotating.

Is this normal? feels not normal to have metal in my corn. I dont see how they possibly operate with metal to metal contact because the whole thin is metal moving parts. Anyone else use these and have this experience?

Brian Hamalainen

Posts: 101

Location: Parikkala, Finland USDA Zone 4a

posted 9 years ago

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Hello Tim. Could you please post some pictures of the unit, especially where the rust/metal flakes are coming from?

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 9 years ago

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i have the same grinder and use it for the same reason. i had one first and i didn't take good care of cleaning itafter use and had the problems you mentioned.

this next one i clean well just after use and its perfect. as for metal flakes, your mill end is too tight. it doesn't need to rub hard to grind the masa well. dont mill dry with no grain either.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Tim Canton

Posts: 175

posted 9 years ago

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I attached a few pics...will attach the rest on next post

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Tim Canton

Posts: 175

posted 9 years ago

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Thanks you guys. Not the best pics but as you can see its rubbing metal on metal in several spots nit just the grinder faces. The faces are rusting and do ocassionally grind each other mostly because they don't line up flush....also and possibly more concerning is rusting and wearing of the shaft. Its rusted on the edges and worn down where it sits in the main housing. I clean it fully after each use and i don't use it empty

I love homemade nixtamal but without the metal etc. did i get a cheap knock off? i didn't think it got cheaper than the corona

thanks y'all

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R Scott

pollinator

Posts: 3956

Location: Kansas Zone 6a

257

posted 9 years ago

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Tim Canton wrote: i didn't think it got cheaper than the corona

LOL. They ARE the cheap knockoff of their former cheap selves.

I also want a good nixtamal grinder. I figure I will have to make one some time. I haven't found anything but junk. Some people say you can use a big meat grinder with the finest blade and plates, but I don't have one of those to try. They don't shave metal so I would think they are safer. Others use food processors, but I don't want a power tool for the job.

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Ann Torrence

steward

Posts: 1202

Location: Torrey, UT; 6,840'/2085m; 7.5" precip; 125 frost-free days

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posted 9 years ago

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I am pondering buying a Family Living grain mill for our nixtamalization experiments. It's German. They also make a grain roller to make rolled oats. There's a review of it on the Interweb. Would be interested to know if anyone else has used it.

Owner, Etta Place Cider

R Scott

pollinator

Posts: 3956

Location: Kansas Zone 6a

257

posted 9 years ago

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Ann Torrence wrote:I am pondering buying a Family Living grain mill for our nixtamalization experiments. It's German. They also make a grain roller to make rolled oats. There's a review of it on the Interweb. Would be interested to know if anyone else has used it.

We have the grain roller. It has been used daily for a couple years now, making oatmeal for a family of 11. It works well. I have been meaning to buy the mill as a backup, but we have a much better flour mill already.

ETA: the hand crank is made with 10mm Hex rod, so you can use a hex driver in a cordless drill if you want to power it occasionally.

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 9 years ago

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a few things pop out right away, mine is not red. its all silver, coated with whatever they coated it with. my auger looks to be of higher quality also.

are you oiling it after use? think of treating it like a cast iron pan you don't have to season.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Judith Browning

Posts: 8231

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial,black,deep clay/loam with few rocks, wonderful creek bottom!

1922

posted 9 years ago

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we bought ours in the 1970's and have ground a lot of flour and all kinds of things since...no rust and what wear there is is even...I had to clean it before I took a picture...it rarely gets washed and only opened up if it is going to sit for a while. We think it is steel with chrome mixed in, not as a coating. Not ideal but we don't use it for anything acidic.

is a 'corn' mill different than this? ours is not red either.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi

Tim Canton

Posts: 175

posted 9 years ago

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I'm not oiling it but should i have to oil the whole thing to avoid rust on a mill??

That pic sure looks in better shape than mine. Do any of yours rub metal on metal by the crank handle or on the inside at all?

Judith Browning

Posts: 8231

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial,black,deep clay/loam with few rocks, wonderful creek bottom!

1922

posted 9 years ago

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Tim Canton wrote:I'm not oiling it but should i have to oil the whole thing to avoid rust on a mill??

That pic sure looks in better shape than mine. Do any of yours rub metal on metal by the crank handle or on the inside at all?

Mine doesn't...we keep thinking we should replace the teeth though, neither of us remembers what they looked like originally. It really shouldn't be rubbing at all...Do you know the company who made it? Ours is a Corona brand, it says Landers on it also and I think it cost $30 or so then. We are getting older and are hoping now that this is another thing it won't be necessary to replace before we are done with it. We don't oil ours but yours appears to be maybe cast steel that would rust. Ours, my husband thinks, has chrome in the steel that prevents it from rusting...maybe not so good to eat, though.
Is the corn damp when run through the grinder?

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